The school review meeting wasn’t a load of fun. Polite but very serious. But one thing did make me smile. The night before our son had a bit of an anxiety attack. The source of the anxiety was school rules. Son had seen two kids given punishments for walking around with hands in their trouser pockets. It’s something he can do absentmindedly.

“Dad somedays I wish I was a tree with no hands and no pockets..”

Surely this can’t be the case.

So while I was waiting for the teacher to pick me up from school reception I asked the school administrator about the rule. She confirmed that it was an automatic negative for this heinous crime.

So for the next 10 minutes I watched the constant stream of humanity walk passed reception. I observed 4 rule breakers – hands clearly in pockets. Not a care in the world. All 4 being Teachers. One rule for all I suspect not……

80 thoughts on “Hands in your pocket”

      3. If any old rule will do to teach the students discipline how about this one? “Students at all times when passing the school administrator in the halls shall loudly ejaculate the word ‘Twit!’. Failure to do so will be taken as indicative of a lack of proper discipline and will result in the strongest consequences.” Would that work, do you think, to teach discipline?

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  8. With each tale of your school system I grow more and more appalled. I cannot even put into words the loathing I feel for the people who are suppose to be teaching children. Who are suppose to care and want to help children learn and like it. And idiotic rules like that my word…….

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      2. Don’t get me wrong, there are also some people who should never set foot in a classroom and try to teach. Some teachers don’t even like kids. I’ve never understood that but it’s true.

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  14. In schools there are pedagogs and pedants. If his was a better school they would probably be able to tell the difference.

    There can be a need to teach children the concept of self-discipline, sometimes reinforced with punishment for extreme breaches; there also needs to be some level of logic and appropriateness to the rules.

    Under what circumstances would it not be considered acceptable to walk around with your hands in your pockets as an adult, or one who wishes to become one, one day??

    I can’t help but think this school belongs more to the 19th century than our current one.

    I think the headmaster deserves to know what your son told you.

    I am so sorry.

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  16. At last had time to read your post, Dad. Gods! The petty ugliness of humanity! What would it take to correct such a trivial, but ugly, unfair, and unjust offense? It should take less than 15 minutes to write and circulate a memo rescinding it. Add to that less than a minute to recognize it as a blunder.

    In reality, it would most likely take a brigade of lawyers and ten years in court.

    I say “lawyers” because I don’t know whether it’s the solicitors or the barristers who handle such matters on your side of the puddle.

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  20. What an absurd rule!!! If I’m in public and don’t have anything in my hands, I guarantee my hands will be in my pockets! Whatever else would I do with my hands? Why do they think pockets were invented??? Sheesh. They never cease to amaze me.

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  26. Doesn’t surprise me in the least, they all used to wear suits with capes and mortar boards in my schooldays. No running in the corridor, beaten with all sorts of things from rulers to slippers to canes, ah happy days! However the main thing that most of us came out with was a reasonable sense of morals and fairly good manners.

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